The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
NFL players wary of safety, what skipping season means
The 60-game miniseason Major League Baseball assembled this summer was still long enough that a dozen or so players with health concerns, even a few stars, decided to skip it.
The NFL’s player pool is more than twice the size of MLB’s, groomed for fundamental extreme-contact activities of blocking, tackling and covering that are as inherently ripe for virus spread as any in sports. If the 2020 season can get off the ground this fall amid the global paralysis of the COVID-19 pandemic, players opting out will be a sure bet.
For those who choose to sideline themselves with a medically approved high-risk condition, will they continue to receive their salary and benefits and accrue a season toward free agency eligibility? Who will sign off on the categories and the diagnosis?
As with the rest of society in the fight against this unseen, fierce and unprecedented foe, the list of questions is far longer than the answer key.
“I just pray that everybody can be safe. A lot of people have families. People have kids,” Titans running back Derrick Henry said.
With the targeted July 28 start for training camp for most teams fast approaching, the owners and the players have a lot of health-related protocols to establish so this precarious season can even kick off. Testing frequency is at the top of the list. The practice schedule and necessity of exhibition games are also major points of negotiation. Then there’s the issue of optout clauses.
One potential point of lingering contention between the league and the NFL Players Association is whether COVID-19 will be categorized as a “non-football injury.” Players on the reserve non-football injury list are not required to be paid.
In baseball, high-risk individuals were allowed to opt out with pay. San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey, however, will not receive a salary because his reasoning for not playing was specific to him and his wife adopting identical twin girls.
For an NFL player who makes a similar decision, the NFLPA will push for at least service time accrual and benefits eligibility, even if salary is withheld.
To date, NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said Friday, no players have formally decided to skip the 2020 season out of virus concern.
“Are there some things that are incredibly important to our players about being able to opt out? Yes. We don’t want players unfairly punished by it, in the same way that we wouldn’t want our players unfairly punished ... because of testing positive,” Smith said.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers left tackle Donovan Smith said recently on social media playing this season during the pandemic “does not seem like a risk worth taking” for him and his family’s health.
New York Giants left tackle Nate Solder was more blunt last week on Twitter: “If the NFL doesn’t do their part to keep players healthy,” he posted, “there is no football in 2020. It’s that simple.”